Films Natalie has appeared in: Lassie
-TV series in 1997
Dancing On The Moon
-Movie in 1998
Sally Marshall Is Not An Alien
-Movie in 1998
Marie Curie: More Than Meets The Eye
-Movie in 1998
Dear America: Dreams In The Golden Country
-TV movie in 1999
Big Wolf On Campus
-TV in 1999 to present
Interview: Natalie as Martine Boudreau in "Marie Curie: More Than Meets the Eye"
As the film's charming anchor, Natalie Vansier provides a unique, youthful perspective on the exploits of the great scientist.
"Martine's pretty similar to me, I think," says Vansier. "She has a lot of confidence in herself; if she has a gut feeling, she'll go along with it. She has a sense of humor, and if sometimes she's looks a little tough, she also has a sensitive side. Yes, she also has an active imagination. There's a part of her that knows that Marie Curie isn't a spy, but another part of her is scared--scared for her father--and so she wants to have this wild idea to believe in."
Natalie Vansier was born in Montreal on March 7, 1986. She has always gravitated to "make-believe and acting out stories," she says, and has long known that she would "do anything that would let me do that." By about age seven, she was taking theatre classes, particularly a musical workshop with David Schapp, and by the summer of 1995 was working professionally.
Her first film was Dancing on the Moon, playing Madeline, a young girl who bears a passing resemblance to her Marie Curie character in the sense, Vansier says, that "she has a lot of imagination and pretty much stands out from the crowd. In the film, Madeline had a stuffed animal that came to life." In her next movie, The Kid, Vansier played the girlfriend of a boy who aspires to be a boxer. Of late, she has been appearing in the TV series Lassie, which airs on YTV in Canada and the Discovery Channel in the U.S.; her character, Nathalie, is a friend of the intrepid dog's owner. The filming of Marie Curie is Ireland conveniently fell during the show's hiatus.
Thus far, acting is everything she hoped it would be. "Playing different characters, doing something you enjoy, working with great people--it has all been so cool." Working with veteran talents like Kate Trotter, she says, was "especially cool. She was so concentrated, so into her scenes. I would be listening to her talking about the science, and I would get completely into the science and almost forget I was acting." As well, her on-screen sister, Eliane, was played by Vancouver actress Colleen Rennison, "who became, like, a best friend. Every night after set, if she wasn't in my hotel room, I would be in hers." Finally, the opportunity to work in Ireland was, literally, a dream come true. "In school," she says, "whenever we got to pick a country to study, I would always pick Ireland, so I was so incredibly happy that we got to film there. Dublin wasn't quite the way I'd pictured it, but the countryside was."
In Montreal, Vansier attends Willington School, where she excells in art and mathematics, although her Lassie schedule often requires her to study on the set. Domestically, she divides her time between her parents' homes--her mom's a receptionist at McGill University; her dad's a practitioner of massage, yoga and meditation--and she has a half-brother, Adam. Her latest project is to start a folk-music band, to be called Swan. Long-term, she hopes to remain an actress, although she wouldn't mind pursuing a career as a fashion designer.
more should be coming soon
got anything to add? email me
home info
